Got really mad at the supermarket today

SHBoss1673

I had a wake up call in the grocery line yesterday that reminded me how I have backslid in the food department.

I had my stuff on the belt, and a man behind me had the other 1/2 of the belt. I looked right at him and said OMG...that is how I shopped until last month!!!! He LOL and said the holidays can do that to us, and he was glad to be a good example.(as he sheepishly slid his icecream onto the belt :laugh:)

So now I will go with a list!!


As for the mom in line. There are a few things to consider here.
1. those are all very inexpensive foods (except the soda)
2. my daughter lived on mac and cheese, wouldnt eat anything else
3. some ppl do not know any better

I see this each time I go shopping and now with just overweight ppl. I have seen svelte moms who are still sweaty from the gym with big bags of chips, cases of soda and other garbage for the family.

I remember my mom looking me straight in the eye and saying, eat your spinach or you get nothing and you go to your room for the night. There was no question in her voice, and there was nothing to do in my room (no tv, and this was pretty much pre-video game), guess what? I might have not eaten that night, but I ate what she gave me the next morning.

I dispise your number 3. IMHO this is simply not an excuse in the United States. With free librarys with free internet access available. it's your responsibility as a parent to know better.

havingitall

Most people learn what to eat from their parents. My parents were British with a passion for gravies, cheese and sweets. My Dad loved his desserts and cookies so we always had them. No lunch or dinner was complete without something sweet at the end of it.

My mother used to tell me I needed to lose weight, which I did, but she never told me how. I didn't have the right tools to do the job. I have learned over this last year what the right tools are and how to utilize them. I have a library card and read extensively. I am on the internet regularly too. But when you don't know what you are looking for, you have nowhere to find it.

I was googling how to lose 100 lbs when I can across MFP. That was the best find I ever had on the interent (other than my husband ) It changed my life and the way I live it when no other thing had.

So in keeping with Jeannie's comment....some people don't know any better....she's right

wmb0124

Yep, it's terrible. I ate horribly as a child, and I'm still trying to let go anger from it. I agree it's bordering on abuse and neglect, and maybe not even bordering. (ducking down as the flame war begins)

I was at Burger King the other day (I was on a road trip and desperate, and I have been punished by it and made my peace with my terrible choice ) and they were advertising a side of macaroni and cheese as part of their "smarter choices for kids" menu. Refined carbs, chemically orange goo and preservatives smarter?

Really? Really?

I have a relative whose children have never eaten a fruit or vegetable. Never. Terrifying. I was on a visit this summer, and one of the kids (I think she's around eight. . .it's not a relative I'm close with) said "I'm hungry!", so I pulled a pear out of my bag and handed it to her. God is my witness, she asked me "what is this thing?" :noway:

As I'm reading this, I'm thinking about my dinner last night. Which was DELICIOUS. It was broiled chicken, broccoli, and spaghetti squash sautéed with a little bit of kens light Italian dressing, chopped garlic, and some EVOO. Really, it was easy, heck it is even easier if you buy a roasted chicken from the supermarket. Incredibly healthy, and not overly expensive either. Plus it takes about 15 minutes total to make (once you broil the chicken, which we do in advance). Is this type of stuff REALLY that hard? I would have loved this as a kid!

Can you post this recipe? Sounds delicious!

michlingle

People (adults) do know better. They just choose not to care. You would have to be blind and deaf to NOT know that there are healthy foods and unhealthy foods. If you are fat, then you probably eat unhealthy foods. Then you do something about it. Or you don't. People know better, that's an excuse. It takes effort to cut things, it does not take effort to sit and your car and wait. It takes effort to wash dishes after you cook, no effort to throw away a bag. If you are lazy, you take the lazy way out. When I was heavier I was lazy. Plain and simple.

havingitall

The cart Sheboss mentions could have been mine a year ago. Although I tried to make balanced meals (protein, starch, veg), my choices for those stunk! None of my children are overweight, neither was I until my surprise baby arrived, so I thought I was doing ok. Imagine my surprise to learn what high fructose corn syrup does and how many foods it is in? Or how much sugar common foods we ate regularly contained? Or nitrates? Or preservatives? Wow...so much have I learned in the past year.

That said, and in a possible, partial defense of the shopper, I shop at three separate stores for my weekly marketing. Family Dollar for the spices, paper products, and personal hygiene stuff; a farmers market for my fruits, veggies, dried legumes, and some imported foods, and the grocery store for the canned, frozen and organic dairy goods. So my cart might look a wee bit lopsided too, at the grocery. Not a veggie in sight!! LOL. I've already loaded up the car with those.

Unfortunately, I doubt that second part is the case here. the place I was at has very low prices, and very good quality, mostly locally grown (when in season) fruits and veggies.

If people judged my grocery cart at the grocery store they would think I eat dog food, kitty litter and laundry detergent. I buy my fruits and veggies at a fruit market and my meat at a butcher.

arewethereyet

I had a wake up call in the grocery line yesterday that reminded me how I have backslid in the food department.

I had my stuff on the belt, and a man behind me had the other 1/2 of the belt. I looked right at him and said OMG...that is how I shopped until last month!!!! He LOL and said the holidays can do that to us, and he was glad to be a good example.(as he sheepishly slid his icecream onto the belt :laugh:)

So now I will go with a list!!


As for the mom in line. There are a few things to consider here.
1. those are all very inexpensive foods (except the soda)
2. my daughter lived on mac and cheese, wouldnt eat anything else
3. some ppl do not know any better

I see this each time I go shopping and now with just overweight ppl. I have seen svelte moms who are still sweaty from the gym with big bags of chips, cases of soda and other garbage for the family.

I remember my mom looking me straight in the eye and saying, eat your spinach or you get nothing and you go to your room for the night. There was no question in her voice, and there was nothing to do in my room (no tv, and this was pretty much pre-video game), guess what? I might have not eaten that night, but I ate what she gave me the next morning.

I dispise your number 3. IMHO this is simply not an excuse in the United States. With free librarys with free internet access available. it's your responsibility as a parent to know better.

Steve, YOU are the one who got me to investigate what I do and eat. Before then I was not totally ignorant, but was not as educated as I am today. It has taken a lot of work to know that a salad is NOT a salad!

When I was a kid my mom was thin as were us kids. That was because there were weeks we existed on a box of mac and cheese, white bambi bread, a can of tuna and oranges from the tree next door. My mom knew what foods were good for us but had no money or means to buy it.

I have an intelligent friend who is 100 pounds overweight. We worked out one morning and she invited me for a 'good' breakfast. We had burned maybe 200 cals in a light tready wkout. She made biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs.....the eggs FRIED IN BUTTER! I did not eat but I did write down the caloric intake for one breakfast (thanks to MFP for the info!)

She almost swallowed her tounge! She had NO idea!

I believe education is key, but we also need a means and someone to teach us.

arewethereyet

Oh...and thanks for making me educate myself.....and I continue to do so. :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

I had a wake up call in the grocery line yesterday that reminded me how I have backslid in the food department.

I had my stuff on the belt, and a man behind me had the other 1/2 of the belt. I looked right at him and said OMG...that is how I shopped until last month!!!! He LOL and said the holidays can do that to us, and he was glad to be a good example.(as he sheepishly slid his icecream onto the belt :laugh:)

So now I will go with a list!!


As for the mom in line. There are a few things to consider here.
1. those are all very inexpensive foods (except the soda)
2. my daughter lived on mac and cheese, wouldnt eat anything else
3. some ppl do not know any better

I see this each time I go shopping and now with just overweight ppl. I have seen svelte moms who are still sweaty from the gym with big bags of chips, cases of soda and other garbage for the family.

I remember my mom looking me straight in the eye and saying, eat your spinach or you get nothing and you go to your room for the night. There was no question in her voice, and there was nothing to do in my room (no tv, and this was pretty much pre-video game), guess what? I might have not eaten that night, but I ate what she gave me the next morning.

I dispise your number 3. IMHO this is simply not an excuse in the United States. With free librarys with free internet access available. it's your responsibility as a parent to know better.

Steve, YOU are the one who got me to investigate what I do and eat. Before then I was not totally ignorant, but was not as educated as I am today. It has taken a lot of work to know that a salad is NOT a salad!

When I was a kid my mom was thin as were us kids. That was because there were weeks we existed on a box of mac and cheese, white bambi bread, a can of tuna and oranges from the tree next door. My mom knew what foods were good for us but had no money or means to buy it.

I have an intelligent friend who is 100 pounds overweight. We worked out one morning and she invited me for a 'good' breakfast. We had burned maybe 200 cals in a light tready wkout. She made biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs.....the eggs FRIED IN BUTTER! I did not eat but I did write down the caloric intake for one breakfast (thanks to MFP for the info!)

She almost swallowed her tounge! She had NO idea!

I believe education is key, but we also need a means and someone to teach us.

Ah ha! See, that's what I mean. Intelligence and ignorance are not mutually exclusive. For instance, I consider myself an intelligent person (I guess), yet I'm completely ignorant of the mating habits of the South American tree frog. Then again, because I'm intelligent, I know I could find that knowledge if I needed to. Like if it affected my health to know it.

So say I have some rare disease that will kill me, and the only cure is the slime on a South American Tree Frog's back, which they only excrete during mating season. Well, since I currently know nothing about it. I'd go look it up.
I know this is a silly comparison, but it proves the point. Because I'm ignorant of it, doesn't make me unable to become knowledgeable. And as a parent, your child's health should be something you should be intimately familiar with. If you aren't IMHO it should be a parent's first priority.

As to not having the money. I don't buy that argument anymore. Maybe when we were young and there weren't food banks all over the place. But I volunteer at a food bank a couple times a year, and know for a fact that anyone who needs it, can come down and request healthy, nutritious food from them weekly. Maybe in other parts of the country this isn't true, but where I live, you're never more than 5 or 10 miles from a fully stocked food bank.
What we need to remember is that 20 or 30 years ago, when we were young, we didn't have the nutrition knowledge we do now. Parents can't hide behind the "I didn't know" statement any more. I'm sorry, but when children are involved, it's your job to know. I'm unwavering on that. I don't make excuses for parents, and I don't accept them from parents either.

SHBoss1673

Oh...and thanks for making me educate myself.....and I continue to do so. :flowerforyou:

and you're welcome! Knowledge is power my dear!

mmnichol

Mind if I add one more thing??

I find that some people just don't care if what they eat is healthy or not, all that matters is that the food tastes good or it's cheap, that's it.

I work with 10 women in my department in a hospital, they're all intelligent and informed, but.....they eat what they want and don't care what it's doing to them (most all are very overweight). You know the old saying, corny but true.... You can lead a horse to water.......but can't make it drink!


BYT.....Happy New Year!!! :drinker:

SHBoss1673

and just so everyone knows. I realize this is a journey, and a difficult one for many. I'm understanding of people struggling with nutrition. And I'm supportive of those who try.

I'm just very intolerant when it comes to children. I feel like parents need to be held responsible for their children's well being. I see more adult issues stemming from childhood problems that could have been averted with proper parenting. It makes me nuts sometimes. I realize that sometimes it's unavoidable, but I also feel that many times it's the fault of the parents. And I just don't accept ignorance as a reason for parental failures in general (there are exceptions, but not that many).

kimber607

I had a wake up call in the grocery line yesterday that reminded me how I have backslid in the food department.

I had my stuff on the belt, and a man behind me had the other 1/2 of the belt. I looked right at him and said OMG...that is how I shopped until last month!!!! He LOL and said the holidays can do that to us, and he was glad to be a good example.(as he sheepishly slid his icecream onto the belt :laugh:)

So now I will go with a list!!


As for the mom in line. There are a few things to consider here.
1. those are all very inexpensive foods (except the soda)
2. my daughter lived on mac and cheese, wouldnt eat anything else
3. some ppl do not know any better

I see this each time I go shopping and now with just overweight ppl. I have seen svelte moms who are still sweaty from the gym with big bags of chips, cases of soda and other garbage for the family.

I remember my mom looking me straight in the eye and saying, eat your spinach or you get nothing and you go to your room for the night. There was no question in her voice, and there was nothing to do in my room (no tv, and this was pretty much pre-video game), guess what? I might have not eaten that night, but I ate what she gave me the next morning.

I dispise your number 3. IMHO this is simply not an excuse in the United States. With free librarys with free internet access available. it's your responsibility as a parent to know better.

Steve, YOU are the one who got me to investigate what I do and eat. Before then I was not totally ignorant, but was not as educated as I am today. It has taken a lot of work to know that a salad is NOT a salad!

When I was a kid my mom was thin as were us kids. That was because there were weeks we existed on a box of mac and cheese, white bambi bread, a can of tuna and oranges from the tree next door. My mom knew what foods were good for us but had no money or means to buy it.

I have an intelligent friend who is 100 pounds overweight. We worked out one morning and she invited me for a 'good' breakfast. We had burned maybe 200 cals in a light tready wkout. She made biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs.....the eggs FRIED IN BUTTER! I did not eat but I did write down the caloric intake for one breakfast (thanks to MFP for the info!)

She almost swallowed her tounge! She had NO idea!

I believe education is key, but we also need a means and someone to teach us.

Ah ha! See, that's what I mean. Intelligence and ignorance are not mutually exclusive. For instance, I consider myself an intelligent person (I guess), yet I'm completely ignorant of the mating habits of the South American tree frog. Then again, because I'm intelligent, I know I could find that knowledge if I needed to. Like if it affected my health to know it.

So say I have some rare disease that will kill me, and the only cure is the slime on a South American Tree Frog's back, which they only excrete during mating season. Well, since I currently know nothing about it. I'd go look it up.
I know this is a silly comparison, but it proves the point. Because I'm ignorant of it, doesn't make me unable to become knowledgeable. And as a parent, your child's health should be something you should be intimately familiar with. If you aren't IMHO it should be a parent's first priority.

As to not having the money. I don't buy that argument anymore. Maybe when we were young and there weren't food banks all over the place. But I volunteer at a food bank a couple times a year, and know for a fact that anyone who needs it, can come down and request healthy, nutritious food from them weekly. Maybe in other parts of the country this isn't true, but where I live, you're never more than 5 or 10 miles from a fully stocked food bank.
What we need to remember is that 20 or 30 years ago, when we were young, we didn't have the nutrition knowledge we do now. Parents can't hide behind the "I didn't know" statement any more. I'm sorry, but when children are involved, it's your job to know. I'm unwavering on that. I don't make excuses for parents, and I don't accept them from parents either.

Couldn't agree more..well said
PLUS I think we all know that a splurge on a special occasion or ONE bad shopping trip is not going to make someone overweight/unhealthy.......plus if a 7yr old child is overweight/obese it hits a nerve if the excuse is that they are buying the chips or soda for daddy...the whole family needs to be on board and be an example, especially if an overweight child is involved
Besides nutrition I also think it is a parents obligation to keep her kids active and limit the time they spend watching TV, on the computer, Wii, play station etc

It is NOT easy as the majority of us here have suffered with extra weight and bad eating choices but what is happening to our children is down right scary!

Kim
I know having 2 small kids it isn't easy but I enroll my son in every after school program that I can....sports as well as art, etc

betterhealth2010

You are right! Kids can really be crude so she will be used for their entertainment purposes. Out of curiosity.....What did the mom look like....u know...her weight?

lotusfromthemud

[/quote]

but when children are involved, it's your job to know. I'm unwavering on that. I don't make excuses for parents, and I don't accept them from parents either.
[/quote]

Banks, I am a thousand percent with you on this.

I always use the cigarette comparison. I think that with the food industry right now, we're exactly where we were with cigarettes thirty years ago. The information is DEFINITELY easily and freely available that processed junk food is a) not good for you and b) causes obesity. Much the same way that in olden times, people who said that cigarettes caused cancer were "overbearing" or "judging". But, on the same comparison, the food industry is working very, very hard (and has billions of dollars and lobbyists at their command, just the same way that the tobacco industry does) to market crap to us. When was the last time you saw a TV commercial for an apple on Saturday morning? The corporations are convincing little kids that they "need" certain foods, and parents (who control the wallets and the kitchen) are giving in.

I was raised by a mom and a grandma who did not teach me to eat (or take care of myself in any way, really). I wish someone had intervened, but no one did. I had to gain the knowledge myself, after I actually made myself ill and fat by eating poorly and turning to food for comfort, as I was trained to do in my childhood.

Feeding your children the best food possible is crucial to their development. We have ten-year-olds in North America with type 2 diabetes! This is not acceptable! If I smoked, I wouldn't pass my six year old grandson a cigarette because he wanted one. And, I'm sorry, but I have the same feeling about junk food. I know everybody's situation is different, and this sounds extremely judgemental, but I feel pretty strongly about the issue.

Zara11

If I ever have children, they will be from day one fed well and enrolled in physical activities and brought to parks! In the age of Google and free information, I'd be shocked if someone wasn't aware they were overweight, and after that, it's all about choices. Mind you, I completely understand that some people struggle with what choice to make based on a variety of psychological and environmental factors.

However, one thing that bothers me certain people who say they struggle to buy healthy, but always have sodas and desserts stuck in the fridge. I say this from first-hand experience. When money was tight, and hell, even when it wasn't, I never bought that stuff to make sure I could afford the good foods.

Once again, this of course varies from situation to situation. Thus, me saying this doesn't mean I'm "judging" people who have an excellent reason for consistently buying junk food over healthy food. This targets a specific group of people.

arewethereyet

How about when a child will eat nothing but ......let's say mac and cheese...............or a hot dog..........is it better to allow them to go hungry than to allow them the weenie and mac? I know a bit off subject

Zara11

How about when a child will eat nothing but ......let's say mac and cheese...............or a hot dog..........is it better to allow them to go hungry than to allow them the weenie and mac? I know a bit off subject

That's a toughie. I know kids like that. There are several choices. 1. let then not eat anything until they eat more variety, tough love style, 2. work like hell to integrate new foods which doesn't always work (my friend's little brother only ate chicken nuggets for like 9 years and i know for a fact his parents tried a lot to slip in new stuff) or 3. feed them as they want, make sure they have enough physical exercise, and pray it's a phase that will end soon.

arewethereyet

Store brand white bread: $1.29
Natures Way whole grain bread : $3.29

Box of mac and cheese: $1
ww pasta : $2.59
shred cheddar $2.59
milk: $2.99


My grocery bill went up $100 a week when I started to eat healthier. And that was on a good week.

MercuryBlue

How about when a child will eat nothing but ......let's say mac and cheese...............or a hot dog..........is it better to allow them to go hungry than to allow them the weenie and mac? I know a bit off subject

I'm a mean mom, lol. I'll mix a little big of 'good' stuff he likes with the GOOD things I like. So he might have baked chicken with a little mac and cheese on the side, and a bunch of veggies. Of course, being a child, he'll eat the mac and cheese first, then the chicken.

...So I'll make him sit at the table until the veggies are gone.

I don't feel guilty doing it, either. My parents did that to me, and I promise, I didn't grow up too screwed up

melissahager

How about when a child will eat nothing but ......let's say mac and cheese...............or a hot dog..........is it better to allow them to go hungry than to allow them the weenie and mac? I know a bit off subject

That's a toughie. I know kids like that. There are several choices. 1. let then not eat anything until they eat more variety, tough love style, 2. work like hell to integrate new foods which doesn't always work (my friend's little brother only ate chicken nuggets for like 9 years and i know for a fact his parents tried a lot to slip in new stuff) or 3. feed them as they want, make sure they have enough physical exercise, and pray it's a phase that will end soon.

Kids will eat what is given to them when they are hungry enough. They won't starve to death because you don't give them the mac and cheese that they so love. In addition, I was told by my kids' pediatrician to put small amounts of the "good stuff" on my childs plate over and over when they were little. Eventually they taste it cause they keep seeing it and find out it's not so bad. Also, I stopped cooking seperate meals as my kids got older (age 2 or so). What daddy and mommy ate, the kids ate. The transition away from chicken nuggets was the worst. But I started baking chicken in corn flakes so it was visually similar and still had the crunch. They loved it! Now they will just eat the pan cooked, grilled, or baked chicken with seasoning without a problem. Also, rather than mac and cheese being THE meal, it can be served as a side along with some veggies. It's all about balance and portions.